Byrne forwarded the message to Williams, who never responded. He was off to explore the world. He lit out for Beirut, where he spent four months with Hosseini. He DJ’ed at nightclubs, invested in a bottled-water plant with his old friend, jet-skied in the Mediterranean. From there Williams made for Australia, disappearing for long stretches into the Outback. Byrne wasn’t surprised. If anything, he wondered why it took his friend so long to leave the NBA. Says Byrne: “His great fear was to be another 40-year-old NBA player, paying the rent by doing car commercials.”